Storm
by Rabid Lola
Summary: He thought she only loved Amano Ginji. Raitei could never hold a place in her heart. GinjixNatsumi, one-shot.


_**Storm **_

_A Ginji/Natsumi fanfic by Rabid Lola_

**A/N: **_Hwee, I haven't put up anything GB in some time. Halo! Eh, I felt like writing a dark-ish Ginji/Natsumi. Go figure. AU-ish, because the circumstances are my own, set at no particular time. Well, maybe sometime after the anime. _

…**---…**

_I thought she only loved Amano Ginji._

_Raitei could never hold a place in her heart. _

And it was too dangerous. Now was the time when MakubeX asked for help, to suppress the bloody and violent yakuzas suddenly sprouting out all over Lower Town. Yakuzas of the fallen ones—people rumored to have come from the Beltline (some even say Babylon City itself), and through some bitter twist of fate kicked out, stuck in Lower Town forever.

So he pushed her away. He was still friendly, yes, still Ginji, but he did not act on his love, and took no notice of hers. He pretended not to see the heartache he was causing her, the hurt confusion in her eyes when he was deliberately platonic. Ban had told him angrily that he was being stupid. Ginji had replied, in a sad, but final tone, that it was for her sake.

Because he loved her, and Raitei did too.

His best friend had seen the pain in his eyes and said no more, but Ginji knew he had plenty more to say. He was just waiting.

And now…

And now many things might remain unsaid, forever.

…**---…**

Ginji stood in the midst of the storm, lightning illuminating the cold rage on his face. Mugenjou was dark around them; he and Ban should have known better than to try to chase down their enemies during a Mugenjou night.

Ban…

"Let go of Ban-chan,' he said softly, voice crackling with suppressed energy.

_Raitei was beginning to get restless._

The man in front of him laughed and kicked at the inert body of his partner. "Who would have thought that the invincible Midou Ban-sama would be so easily downed by a drug?" he said mockingly. "The wonders of tranquilizer darts…"

"I wouldn't call it easy," Ginji said in that soft tone that boded no good. "All your men are unconscious, or dead." Ban had struggled over the influence of the drug, and he had taken many unnatural goons down with him. Ginji had not known his partner had been hit by a dart until he had slumped unconscious in the middle of a fight. The men had leapt on him then, and beaten him up badly, and Ginji, fighting on the other end of the street, had been unable to do anything.

The man laughed quietly. "That doesn't matter, right now." His face was twisted into an expression of cruel joy. "He's dying, Raitei. Fading fast."

"No," Ginji said quietly, cool as ever, but panic was fluttering inside him, urgent and quick, because there was so much blood matting Ban's hair, so much blood staining his shirt. And he could sense it, through their connection, the weakening of his body, the blackness that was beginning to engulf him…

"Don't call me Raitei," Ginji added as an afterthought, distracting himself from worries. He willed Ban to live, and could almost feel his partner try to wake up in response.

"What will you do now?" the man asked, in a soft, taunting tone. "Your friends are on the other end of Mugenjou, busy with the men I sent there. They can't help you now, and I can kill Midou anytime." The man grinned, and drew two items out of his clothes…a metal glove and a knife. The boy watched warily as he drew the glove over his hand and gripped the knife, metal grating on metal…and Ginji's blood froze as he saw the man kneel, the tip of the knife pressed to Ban's flesh. "I heard you get angry when your friends are hurt, Raitei." The knife made a cut and blood trickled sluggishly out, staining Ban's shirt even more. Ginji crackled, thunder rumbled. It began to rain.

"I'm only starting with him," the man said. "When I'm finished, I'll move on to that little upstart…MakubeX. Or that pretty Kakei girl. Maybe I'll even try to take on Fuuchoin Kazuki, or assassinate the Beastmaster." Ginji was white with rage. The man was twisted, yes, and also intelligent. Ginji couldn't electrocute him, because the tip of the knife was still pressed against Ban, and the metal of the glove was touching the knife. Ginji doubted his partner would be able to withstand even a weak shock, in his current state.

His nemesis's eyes gleamed. "And maybe, I won't kill that young girl you like so much. Just take her for my own." A lecherous grin crept onto his face. "She'll do…quite well."

_Natsumi! _"You won't touch her!" Ginji was moving with inhuman speed, knocking the knife out of the man's hand before he could plunge it into Ban again. He tackled him, using the weight of his tackle to carry them away from Ban's body. He prepared to shock him, with all he had…but the cold nozzle of a gun was pressed against his chin.

The man smirked, pinned to the ground but for one arm, finger ready on the trigger. "You didn't know I had this, did you?"

There was a gunshot.

Ginji felt a bullet zip just past his neck, and the gun flew as the man clutched the wound in his wrist, howling painfully. Shoving himself off the man, he turned to see Natsumi, gun steady in her hands, spattered with blood and drenched in the rain. A little way off, Kazuki and Himiko were pulling the unconscious Ban upright. Himiko had her Time potion out, in hopes that it would slow down Ban's body and therefore his bleeding, and Kazuki was temporarily stitching Ban's wounds closed, fingers flying as several strings worked at once.

"Why are you here!" Ginji yelled at Natsumi. He'd never yelled before…not to her, not to any one of his friends. But he'd never wanted to see her in this city, either… "I told Paul not to allow you!"

"He couldn't stop me," she said softly, gun still trained on the other man. This was only her second time in Mugejou…Ginji had tried to prevent her first, to no avail. "I found Kazuki-san and Himiko-san first. They needed a little help."

"Natsumi-chan, this isn't a place for you. It's too dangerous." _You're too innocent. _

"That's fine."

He grabbed her arm, and heard her gasp as his electricity crackled through her. Forcing himself to calm down, he looked her straight in the eye. "Natsumi, go home."

Her eyes flashed anger, then panic as they darted to something behind him. "Gin-chan, look out!"

She shoved him away and the bullet sped harmlessly by, but the one that followed caught her around the area of her shoulder, and she let slip a small cry of pain. Quickly she dodged the next bullet and fired back, four rapid shots. Somehow, the man evaded them and fired past her, aiming for…

Ginji's wall of electricity kept the bullet from hitting Kazuki, Himiko, and Ban. "Get him out of here!" he yelled. "Bring him to Gen!"

As the other two hurried to obey, he heard a gun clattering onto the street and a sharp _"Get away from me!_" Ginji spun and flung a bolt of electricity at the man, knocking him away from Natsumi. The girl was breathing heavily, fingers pressed to her shoulder. Blood seeped out between them, to be washed away by the rain. She bent and picked up her gun, hand trembling slightly.

He gripped her wrist, staying her hand, and this time he tried hard to keep the electricity running rampant in him under control. "Natsumi, go home," he pleaded. The rain was coming down harder and the thunder was coming nearer…he could feel the storm singing through his veins, begging him to use it, to eliminate the unnatural man already struggling to his feet after the huge shock. Raitei stirred within him, but even Raitei was ashamed to show himself to Natsumi.

She looked at him, then, and in her gray-dark eyes he could see her love, sad and steadfast, because she loved him even if she thought—no, _believed_ he did not love her back. He released her hand and turned before she could see his face, and his brown eyes fast going gold went wide for a second as he saw his enemy raise his gun. He shoved Natsumi away…

"AGH!"

Ginj stumbled backwards, a bullet in his chest. Natsumi let out a panicked "GINJI!", then sensed the man advancing on her, gun raised, his aura clearly pissed.

Her eyes held unmitigated anger, for the first time, and she leapt in front of Ginji, shooting straight at the other man. The bullets hit, but he did not falter. _"What does it take to keep you down?_"

He backhanded her hard across the face, and she fell, landing square on her wounded shoulder. She gasped and bit her lip against the pain, and then felt his hand grab her hair and turn her head, forcing her to look at him. She swung back an arm and punched him…but he caught her fist, half-sitting on top of her to keep her pinned down.

"You're pretty." He leered at her, breath hot on her face. She shuddered as she saw his eyes, mad and bright, focused right on her. "You're still young, and are a hell lot of trouble, but…" Fingers trailed down the side of her neck, and she slapped them away, revolted. He just laughed.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" A glowing figure staggered onto its feet. Natsumi screamed as lightning struck, hot and powerful, energizing the Emperor, crackling destructive energy. Raitei was awake, now, eyes piercing and blazing with cold hatred; yellow, unreal eyes, not Ginji's eyes, though it was his body. The wound on his chest was healed, miraculously. Raitei yanked the man up by the shirt and flung him away from the girl. Still laughing madly, the man stood. "Lose yourself, Raitei," he gloated.

But the Emperor turned to Natsumi and bent, and gold eyes met gray for a second. He flinched away, ashamed, and reached out with a hand that wasn't crackling. He pulled her up, not ungently, and gave her a little push behind him. "Go."

Before she could protest, he was charging forward with a strength intensified by anger.

Spikes tore out of the other man's body like some mechanical nightmare, and he surged forward to meet Raitei.

"GIN-CHAN!" Natsumi was screaming again, petrified and unable to move at the brilliant and deafening collision. For one unreal minute, she had the faintest idea of how the battle between the Raitei and the Man of the Evil Eye had been…

Her face hardened and she squinted at the two grappling figures, trying to discern the man from Ginji. Aiming, she carefully placed her finger on the trigger of her gun…

A blast of energy from the battlefield flung her backwards, a good five feet away. Stunned, she shook her head to clear it and raised her eyes, watching helplessly as the two attacked each other again, moving further from her.

He was doing it on purpose; she could tell.

She wasn't running, he knew. The man slashed at him and he dodged gracefully, fluidly, at almost-full power, like when he had thought Akabane killed Ban-chan. Ban-chan would be very, very angry, but the man had gone too far. Ban-chan had nearly been killed, his other friends had been threatened, and Natsumi…

Raitei-Ginji closed his eyes, and let his power fill him.

There was a searing crack that heralded a dozen bolts of lightning slicing through the sky. Natsumi shielded her eyes as the brilliant blaze tore the battleground with frighteningly destructive ease. Rocks and shrapnel flew at her, the light left negative afterimages that she could see even when she closed her eyes. She heard the other man scream, in an insane sort of joyful pain, then there was silence, and the horrible burnt smell of human flesh in the air. She opened her eyes to find…nothing. There was a large crater were buildings, street, and Ginji had been.

"Gin-chan!" Heart pounding in terror, she scrambled to her feet, dashing and sliding down the sides of the crater, mud spattering her even more. Rain pounded down on her, streaming over and into her shoulder wound and causing her clothes to cling uncomfortably to her body. Rainwater practically saturated her hair, the black mess beginning to stick to her face in long, damp strands. Impatiently, frantically, she shook it out of her eyes. "Gin-chan!"

He was at the bottom of the crater, beside the burnt, charred body of his opponent. Natsumi gulped and averted her eyes form the corpse, focusing only on him. Dazed golden-brown eyes blinked open and looked up at her, clearing as they took in her bedraggled features, and the blood and mud and tears streaking her pretty face.

"Gin-chan," she whispered gently, kneeling beside him. He flinched away, like Raitei had, and winced at the ache and pain in his body.

"Natsumi, no."

"Don't be an idiot," she said softly, stubbornly. "I'll help you up."

"Stay away from me!" He was shouting again, rolling onto his hands and knees, avoiding her eyes and hurting her. Frustration and despair swelled in a dark mass within him. "Natsumi, you don't get it," he said, a little less roughly. "You…You can't…" He took a deep breath and looked straight at her, meeting her eyes for just that one warning. "You don't know me. Raitei. I can't…I can't let you love a creature like me." He looked away, began to get up but sinking down again, too exhausted to…

Cold hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at their owner; there was an angry fierceness in her face, not because he was hurting her, but because he was hurting himself. "Don't say that." Gray blazed into the brown, meeting and challenging both Ginji and Raitei. Ginji opened his mouth but she silenced him with a vicious shake of her head, letting her hands drop back into her lap. "You are not a creature," she said quietly. "And it is not for you to say whom I will love and not love." A bitter smile quirked the corner of her mouth. "I do know Raitei, Ginji. He just showed himself to me."

"He's a monster," Ginji whispered.

"No, he's _not,_" she said sharply. "He's not separate from you, and you're not a monster. He isn't you, and you aren't him, Ban-san's right. But he isn't separate." She sighed, a small, quivering breath. "I don't know how I can explain it, because I don't know exactly how it works. You don't, either." She grinned a little at the flash of "how-did-you-know?" that spread across his face, then sobered. Tentatively, gently, she touched his gloved hands, and took them in her own. Ginji winced as sparks danced over her palms, prickling at her skin, but she didn't flinch.

"Ban-san would have been angry at you, for calling yourself a creature and a monster," she said. He looked away, and she sighed. His eyes widened as he felt a cool hand on his cheek, turning his face to look at her.

"Ginji. Maybe I don't understand anything about your life and its dangers. Maybe I'm too innocent." She was saying this calmly, coolly, as if she were berating herself, and he wanted to tell her, No, don't think that's wrong, stay the same, keep your innocence intact…

"…But I'm not afraid of Raitei," she said softly, firmly. He glanced up, startled, and finally met her gaze completely. Truth was steady in them, not like a light but like a fact, a sad seriousness that revealed that she knew what she was talking about. She cocked her head, and the corners of her eyes crinkled in a tiny, barely evident smile. "And you shouldn't be, either."

Something broke inside him, and he pulled her into a hug. A soft, shuddering gasp shook through him, as he felt the tension and pain and sadness he'd been holding in and keeping from her seep out, slowly. She stiffened in surprise, but her arms slid around him before he could break away, cradling him close, giving him comfort. A tear, then more streaked down his face, and he laid his head on her shoulder, and she laid her head on his.

_I thought she only loved Amano Ginji. _

…**---…**

She was asleep now, her shoulder wound treated and bound. They were in Gen's clinic, waiting for Ban to wake up. He was in the bed beside Ginji's, out of danger, but still unconscious. Her bed was on Ginji's other side, and in the bed beside her was Himiko, who had only just fallen asleep. Kazuki was up talking to Ren. No one else had been seriously injured.

Ginji was sitting up, letting his eyes rest on the girl in the other bed, a contented smile on his lips. Ban-chan was right, he had been stupid. A twinge vibrated on the edge of his awareness, and he turned to see his best friends stirring. He slipped out from under the covers and crossed over, laying a gentle hand on Ban's shoulder. "Ban-chan," he called softly.

Bleary blue eyes squinted open and focused on him. "Ginji." A grin brushed the corner of Ban's mouth, and his hand brushed against Ginji's in greeting and thankfulness before he reached up to rub his eyes. "Explain to me why I feel like hell."

Ginji chuckled. "They tranquilized you, and beat you up pretty bad. You lost a lot of blood."

Ban snorted. "Cowards. They couldn't take me conscious."

"You scared me, Ban-chan," the other chided quietly.

Ban's face sobered. "As did you. I felt you go turn into Raitei." His gaze sharpened, but softened again when he saw Ginji's guilty look. "What happened?"

When Ginji finished explaining, a full-fledged grin broke over Ban's face. "Made up with her, have you?" Ginji blushed and Ban chuckled, settling more comfortably into the bed. "Well, make sure you name your first kid after me."

"Ban-chan!"

"Don't worry, Ban-san, we will," Natsumi's voice broke in. Ginji felt her arm wrap around his, and her hair tickled his neck as she laid her head on his shoulder sleepily. He blushed even redder—she heard!—and turned to look at her. She winked at him, and continued, "As long as you and Himiko-san do the same for us."

"Natsumi!" Himiko exclaimed from her bed, mortified, and Ban went as red as Ginji.

Ginji laughed, his heart as light and as glad as Natsumi's giggles. Ban didn't have the heart to hit him.

_I thought Raitei could never hold a place in her heart._

_I was wrong. _

…**--EnD---…**

**A/N 2: **Before I forget...

**bluelun**: Hey! Thanks for all your reviews lately...enjoy ka, no? XD Put your email nga in the next review you leave, so I can email you (if it's okay with you). I have a feeling we'd have fun, haha.

**Kitten Kisses**: Hello to you too. :) I'm glad you're enjoying what you're reading so far. Thank you for the many reviews! Drop me an email sometime if you feel like it. :)

Thank you also to everyone else who's been reviewing since...the last time I put something up. Haha.

Oh yeah, **Atropos, **this is the one I told you about. Hope you liked it!


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